Home | Site map

We structure electronic documents

You can think of a website as a system. Interrelated parts work together toward a defined goal. The goal (purpose) might differ, but it often is a performance goal. People enter websites, Intranet sites, and CD-ROM because they have a task they want to complete.

Electronic documents work when the organization (or individual) determines—at the outset—on how the system can support people in doing what they want to do.

How do we structure electronic documents?

We structure electronic documents as performance tools. Before you (or our network of professionals) builds a website, we determine the tasks people will complete on your site and how your content will help people perform these tasks.

As part of our planning, we build a Scope Definition Document, an identifiable goals statement. Without this precise statement, (and management acceptance of these goals), subsequent planning and implementation steps can become unclear. And sites can fail.

The Scope Definition Document also gives you the ability to evaluate your site. You can base your evaluation on the goals that you set in the beginning. In this way, the success of your site is measurable, thorough, and repeatable.

What questions do we ask?

When developing electronic documents, we we work with organizations to answer the following questions:

1. Performance—What do users need or want to do on the site?
   
   
2. Product—What forms best suit the needs of the site's users?
   
   
3. Presentation—How can we visually structure information so the site's users can accomplish their tasks?
   
   
4. People—Who will provide content and expertise?
   
   
5. Politics—How does our organization keep us from meeting the needs of the site's users?
   
   
6. Process—How will we build this communication product?

What does this mean to your organization?

We help your team agree on a solid conceptual foundation before anybody programs a single line of code or creates a single image. Specifically, we help your team:

• Define the audiences and purposes of the electronic document.
  
  
• Define the mission and vision of the electronic document and determine how it fits into the mission and vision of your organization.
  
  
• Coordinate the electronic document project with other communications strategies and channels.
  
  
• Brainstorm ideas about content and functionality (by facilitating what we call Possibility Sessions).
  
  
• Decide how you will define and measure the success of the electronic document.
  
  
• Identify how your organization's management structure, available technology, and resources will affect the site or CD-ROM.
  
  
• Identify potential problems with collecting and maintaining content and with content quality.

To find out how Info.Design can structure information for your organization, e-mail thom@thomhaller.com .